BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Leadership and Management

The BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Leadership and Management focuses on learning through work. It is designed to provide students with the opportunity to advance their knowledge, practice and careers whilst employed in an organisation, and to meet the needs of their organisation by providing the chance to develop higher level management and leadership knowledge and skills. Please note that this course is only available as part of a Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship.

The programme aims to build students' capacity to successfully manage people, projects, operations and services. It looks to develop all aspects of management knowledge and skills such as decision making, managing and developing people, building teams, leading change, project management, financial management, marketing, clear communication, innovation, and developing stakeholder relations.

The degree has been designed for as wide a range of individuals as possible and is studied as part of the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA). This includes individuals who are at the start of their career that wish to become professional managers, as well as aspiring or existing managers who may already have developed practical experience but who wish to develop their theoretical understanding of management and leadership skills further.

The BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Leadership & Management focuses on work-based learning, with modules delivered through a flexible blended-learning approach, primarily online but with opportunities for face-to-face workshops. The programme combines academic and practical skills and students can gain value from real world application of theories and techniques based around their workplace.

Work-based learning aims to enable the application of theory to work practice. This can involve, for example, thinking critically about changes in the workplace, and being supported in undertaking and reporting on a work-based project meeting a specific challenge within their organisation. The work-based projects, and other assignments are designed to involve negotiation between tutors, students and the employer with the aim of meeting the needs of students and their organisation.

All modules, with the exception of the final negotiated work-based module, are approximately 300 learning hours. The final module is 600 learning hours and is designed to give students the opportunity to undertake an extended work-based project.

The basis of sound management within an organisation is effective communication at every level, and with a variety of people. The aim of this module is to empower students to develop a range of communication and interpersonal skills necessary to communicate and engage effectively with others. Emphasis will be placed on developing the ability to communicate and engage in differing contexts, including groups, and overcoming barriers to communication.

Management of Business Finance

This module aims to enable students to understand and demonstrate financial strategies, including budgets, financial management and accounting, and how to provide financial reports. There will be consideration of approaches to procurement and contracting, and legal requirements as well as the consideration of the commercial context in an organisational setting and how this changes over time.

Managing & Developing People

This module will focus on how to recruit, manage and develop people using inclusive talent management approaches. There will be consideration of how to use HR systems and processes to ensure legal requirements, health and safety, and well-being needs are met. It is important for an effective leader and manager to be able to build teams, empower and motivate others, to set goals and manage performance; these skills can be explored and developed during the module.

Personal Effectiveness for Leadership

This module is designed to enable students to become self-aware and recognise different learning styles, how to use emotional and social intelligence, and understand their impact on others. There is an introduction to techniques for managing time, setting goals, prioritising activities and undertaking forward planning in a business environment. An understanding of stress management and personal well-being will considered along with an exploration of one’s core values and drivers. Students can reflect on their own performance, identifying and acting on learning and development needs through the creation and implementation of a personal development plan. There will be an introduction to creating a professional portfolio of evidence.

Developing Collaborative Relationships

Stakeholders are individuals, groups or organisations that are affected by the activity of a business. This module is designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the principles of stakeholder, customer and supplier management. There is analysis of the different approaches, and identification of strategies for improvement. Students can examine methods for shaping common purpose, and evaluate models of conflict management and resolution and how to apply these. There will be examination of negotiation and influencing skills, collaborative working, and contributing to a team environment.

Digital Business and New Technologies in the Workplace

This module aims to develop an understanding of approaches to innovation and digital technologies and their impact on organisations, and how their application can be used for organisational improvement and development. Students have the chance to learn about innovation and digital technology’s impact on data and knowledge management for analysing business decision-making. Students can develop the skill of being able to identify services/organisational improvements and opportunities for innovation and growth, using qualitative and quantitative analysis of information and data and benchmarking against others.

Global and Local Markets

This module aims to develop an understanding of marketing and sales theories and how to create marketing and sales strategies. There will be a consideration of how to segment and target relevant markets and customers from a global and local perspective. There will be the analysis of opportunities and ways to market, and awareness of the implementation of a sales and marketing plan, using creative approaches to develop solutions to meet customer needs.

Project Management & Professional Practice

This module aims to enable students to understand the key stages of a project and undertake a project within an organisation to achieve organisational objectives, and effectively manage resources. Students can consider and evaluate widely recognised project management tools, risk management models and risk benefit analysis. Students are expected to negotiate a project within the area of leadership and management and independently research theories relevant to their chosen project.

Effective Leadership

The aim of this module is to consider different inclusive management and leadership styles and models. Students have the chance to identify their own leadership style and to understand how to adapt to a variety of situations. Mentoring and coaching approaches to develop teams and support people will be evaluated, and the skills of influencing and persuading relating to personal interactions. Types of organisational culture will be explored, diversity management reviewed and how organisational purposes and values can be effectively communicated in an organisation. Students can examine the role of 360 degree reviews, and undertake their own review.

Negotiated Work Based Project

The specific content and approach for this module are negotiated in order to meet the requirements of individual professional development and organisational development needs. The negotiated work based project gives students the opportunity - as leaders in an organisation - to initiate, lead and drive change within the company. As the final major project within the programme, there is a requirement to negotiate outcomes that are agreed by the student, their employer and their tutor. Students should normally undertake a project based on an agreed business problem that forms part of their role and agree the project title and support arrangements with their employer and tutor. In the written project proposal students are expected to identify the aims, methodology and resources required for the project, and produce a plan and criteria for evaluation to be agree with their employer and tutor. By undertaking the project students should be meeting personal and professional objectives, and the organisation should benefit from the implementation. They will also be expected to demonstrate their ability to use critical analysis, evaluation, problem solving, decision making and synthesis.

Organisational Strategy and Managing Change

Organisational strategy and operational change are closely linked i.e. strategic goals are ultimately achieved through the successful delivery of plans at an operational level. This module is designed to support the development of organisational strategies and plans and the development and delivery of operational plans including setting targets, managing resources and monitoring and measuring outcomes to deliver operational effectiveness, efficiency and excellence. Change Management models can be explored, and strategies to enable effective change looked at. There will be consideration of sustainability, risk management, quality assurance models. Students can also develop knowledge concerning Corporate Social Responsibility and its impact on organisational performance.

The modules of the BA (Hons) Professional Practice Leadership and Management are mapped to the outcomes in the CMDA standard. Individual modules will contribute to the on-programme assessment of knowledge, skills and behaviour outcomes en-route to the final end point assessment. Students are expected to create a portfolio of evidence to support this. The work-based project is a substantial piece of work undertaken within the final year of the apprenticeship.

Achievement of the apprenticeship will depend on apprentices successfully completing a number of assessment activities. The methods used aim to ensure that apprentices are assessed across the whole of the published Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship Standard.

As the underpinning degree programme for the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship, this programme is designed for as wide a range of individuals as possible, and to be suitable for those who are, or wish to become, professional managers. This includes individuals who are at the start of their career that wish to become professional managers and achieve Chartered Manager status, as well as those aspiring or existing managers who may already have developed practical experience but who wish to develop their theoretical understanding of management skills further and build further related skills.

Businesses in the UK are now required to pay HMRC the apprenticeship levy on a monthly basis through the PAYE system. There is an opportunity for all UK businesses regardless of whether you are a levy-paying employer or not, to benefit from government funding for apprenticeship training. More information on how Apprenticeship funding works can be found here on the gov.uk website.

Levy-Paying Employer

From April 2017 the government levy imposed a 0.5% levy on businesses payroll.

Employers with a payroll in excess of £3m will be affected.

Employers will receive a £15,000 annual allowance towards the cost of their training, funds will expire after 24 months if not used.